Mason Tipton is quietly making impact plays that may fly under the radar in favor of bigger storylines, like Tyler Shough's ascension, but Kellen Moore knows how valuable Tipton's plays have been for the New Orleans Saints. Ultimately, that value is the reason Tipton is playing himself onto the roster in 2026.
The Saints opened last week's matchup with a seamless opening drive score, and it was all set up by Tipton. He returned the opening kickoff to the Tampa Bay 45 yard line. Moore told the media there's "no better way than to start the game that way for him to have that kick return, put ourself in the +50 category."
It's imperative to take advantage of opportunities like that when they're presented. It may not always look as clear as starting in opponent's territory, but Tipton has shown the ability to win the field position battle.
Mason Tipton may be earning a spot on the Saints roster next year
Nothing is really guaranteed for a player like Mason Tipton. He’s an undrafted free agent in his second year who hasn’t seen much action offensively. Special teams are often the way in for players in his situation. Just ask the guy Tipton is essentially replacing, Rashid Shaheed.
No better way to prove yourself than putting the Saints in scoring position before the quarterback takes the field. Tipton has done that twice in the past three weeks. If Tipton continues to make splash plays like this, it’s easy to envision returning to New Orleans in 2026 as one of their return specialists.
Tyler Shough and the offense didn’t make the same mistake twice
The last time Tipton had a big return was against the Atlanta Falcons. In that game, he put the Saints inside the red zone. The offense struggled to get any momentum and had to settle for a field goal. That field goal was then missed, wasting Tipton's contributions completely.
Sunday was a different story. The Saints weren't quite in field goal position, but it didn't matter as they marched down for a touchdown in six plays. "For our offense to play execution football early in that game and score a touchdown there was I thought was big for our team to feel that," Moore detailed.
Moore also pointed out offensive execution was timely as the rain began pouring down afterwards. We saw the rain greatly impacted the matchup. Shough only missed one pass on that drive, a deep shot to Olave that was impeded by some late contact. It was a call that could have went either way, but it was still his only miss. Things might not have been so smooth if the conditions were as bad as they were for most of the game.